Madonna of humility
Encyclopedia
Madonna (art)
Images of the Madonna and the Madonna and Child or Virgin and Child are pictorial or sculptured representations of Mary, Mother of Jesus, either alone, or more frequently, with the infant Jesus. These images are central icons of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity where Mary remains...
sitting on the ground, or sitting upon a low cushion. She may be holding the Child Jesus
Child Jesus
The Child Jesus represents Jesus from his Nativity to age 12. At 13 he was considered to be adult, in accordance with the Jewish custom of his time, and that of most Christian cultures until recent centuries.The Child Jesus is frequently depicted in art, from around the third or fourth century...
in her lap. The term Virgin of humility is also used to refer to this style of depiction.
History and development
Humility was a virtue extolled by Saint Francis of AssisiFrancis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
, and this style of image was a product of Franciscan piety, first developed by them for contemplation
Christian contemplation
In Christian mysticism, contemplative prayer or contemplation, for which the Greek term theoria is also used, is a form of prayer distinct from vocal prayer and from meditation in the strict sense .-Christian meditation and...
; the word humility
Humility
Humility is the quality of being modest, and respectful. Humility, in various interpretations, is widely seen as a virtue in many religious and philosophical traditions, being connected with notions of transcendent unity with the universe or the divine, and of egolessness.-Term:The term "humility"...
, from the Latin humus, meaning earth or ground.
The earliest known painting of this type dates to 1346 and is at the Museo Nazionale in Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, Italy. It represents a Madonna seated on a small cushion just above the ground. The Child Jesus that she holds partially looks at the viewer. The painting bears the inscription Nostra Domina de Humiltate,with the low cushion intended to express her humility. This painting in Palermo is, however, of a somewhat mediocre quality and was perhaps based on a work of Simone Martini
Simone Martini
Simone Martini was an Italian painter born in Siena.He was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style....
. A similar painting in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, and both paintings were probably based on a Madonna of humility by Martini. A Virgin of humility fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
by Simone Martini survives in the Palais des Papes
Palais des Papes
The Palais des Papes is a historical palace in Avignon, southern France, one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe....
in Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
, France.
An altar was dedicated to the Madonna of humility in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
in 1361. This style of painting spread quickly through Italy and by 1375 examples began to appear in Spain, France and Germany. It was the most popular among the styles of the early Trecento
Trecento
The Trecento refers to the 14th century in Italian cultural history.Commonly the Trecento is considered to be the beginning of the Renaissance in art history...
artistic period.
Examples
Domenico di BartoloDomenico di Bartolo
Domenico di Bartolo was an Italian painter of the Sienese School.He was born in Asciano. According to Vasari, he was a nephew of Taddeo di Bartolo. He was employed by Vecchietta in the masterpiece fresco The Care of the Sick in the Pellegrinaio of the Ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala in Siena...
's Madonna of humility, painted in 1433, was described by art historian Andrew Ladis
Andrew Ladis
Andrew Thomas Ladis was a Greek-born American art historian particularly known for his studies on early Italian Renaissance painting. His 1983 book, Taddeo Gaddi: A Critical Review and Catalogue Raisonné, was the first detailed study of Taddeo Gaddi in the English language...
as one of the most innovative devotional images from the early Renaissance.Art and music in the early modern period by Franca Trinchieri Camiz, Katherine A. McIver ISBN 0754606899 page 15 http://books.google.com/books?id=mdIFQTuA4cQC&pg=PA15&dq=%22Madonna+of+humility%22&hl=en&ei=AW6FTImyNYqvOMvd0K0B&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22Madonna%20of%20humility%22&f=false The formal symmetry of the strips below her feet and those hovering above her express the symbolic duality of her nature: an earthly woman, as well as a heavenly queen
Queen of Heaven
Queen of Heaven is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by Christians, mainly of the Roman Catholic Church, and also, to some extent, in the Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox churches, to whom the title is a consequence of the Council of Ephesus in the fifth century, where the Virgin...
. Despite the low seating position, the star and the gems as well as the halo signify her regal status. In this painting, which is at the Pinoteca Nazionale
Pinacoteca Nazionale (Siena)
The Pinacoteca Nazionale is a national museum in Siena, Tuscany, Italy. Inaugurated in 1932, it houses especially late medieval and Renaissance paintings from Italian artists. It is housed in the Brigidi and Buonsignori palaces in the city's center: the former, built in the 14th century, it is...
in Siena
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
, Domenico does not use cast shadows as he does in other works such as the Madonna Enthroned.
Filippo Lippi
Filippo Lippi
Fra' Filippo Lippi , also called Lippo Lippi, was an Italian painter of the Italian Quattrocento .-Biography and works:...
's Madonna of humility, painted between 1431 and 1437, is also an important work and illustrates Lippi's early style, when he was attentive to Masaccio
Masaccio
Masaccio , born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was the first great painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, Masaccio was the best painter of his generation because of his skill at recreating lifelike figures and movements as well as a convincing sense...
's use of large and round figures. It was painted during a period when Lippi had dropped out of sight, and had perhaps gone into exile with Cosimo de' Medici
Cosimo de' Medici
Còsimo di Giovanni degli Mèdici was the first of the Medici political dynasty, de facto rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance; also known as "Cosimo 'the Elder'" and "Cosimo Pater Patriae" .-Biography:Born in Florence, Cosimo inherited both his wealth and his expertise in...
.
A miracle attributed to the fresco of the Madonna of humility painted in about 1370 gave rise to the construction of the Basilica of Our Lady of Humility
Basilica of Our Lady of Humility
The Basilica of Our Lady of Humility is a Roman Catholic Marian basilica in Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy.A miracle attributed to the fresco of the Madonna of humility painted in about 1370 gave rise to the construction of the basilica. The fresco is sometimes attributed to Bartolomeo Cristiani, but was...
in Pistoia
Pistoia
Pistoia is a city and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy, the capital of a province of the same name, located about 30 km west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno.-History:...
, in Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
, Italy. The fresco is sometimes attributed to Giovanni di Bartolomeo Cristiani
Giovanni di Bartolomeo Cristiani
Giovanni di Bartolomeo Cristiani, who lived at Pistoia in the 14th century, is thought by Ciampi to have been employed at the Campo Santo of Pisa in 1382. He is known to have painted a 'Virgin and Child between SS. Nicholas and John the Baptist' in the Oratorio dei Nerli at Montemurlo...
, but was perhaps done by a local painter from Pistoia. The basilica, built by architect Ventura Vitoni, is an important example of high Renaissance
High Renaissance
The expression High Renaissance, in art history, is a periodizing convention used to denote the apogee of the visual arts in the Italian Renaissance...
architecture. Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...
built the octagonal dome atop the basilica in 1562. The original fresco remains within the basilica.
Other key examples include Bernardo Daddi
Bernardo Daddi
Bernardo Daddi was an early Italian renaissance painter and apprentice of Giotto. He was also influenced by the Sienese art of Lorenzetti....
's central panel in the De Carlo Triptych in which the Madonna is shown sitting in a very low chair, rather than on a cushion. Fra Angelico
Fra Angelico
Fra Angelico , born Guido di Pietro, was an Early Italian Renaissance painter described by Vasari in his Lives of the Artists as having "a rare and perfect talent"...
's representation of about 1430 (which includes two angels) is notable in that Jesus is approached from above, focusing on his divinity. Giovanni di Paolo
Giovanni di Paolo
Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia was an Italian painter, working primarily in Siena. He may have apprenticed with Taddeo di Bartolo, becoming a prolific painter and illustrator of manuscripts, including Dante's texts....
's depiction of about 1456 (see gallery below) represents a transition in the perception of nature, with the visual landscape forming itself around the seated Madonna.
Gallery
- For a larger gallery, please see: Madonna of humility gallery